I admit, the trailers for Toy Story 4 made me apprehensive when I saw them earlier this year. A Hollywood blockbuster about a plastic spork now living life as a child’s toy? It sounded like the perfect set up for a message about the joys of self-identifying as whatever you want to be, or some similar contemporary cultural cliche. That’s the last thing I wanted from such a brilliant movie franchise.
I should have had more faith in the geniuses at Pixar. Toy Story 4 turned out to be so contrary to my expectations that I was left wondering how the filmmakers managed to get such a traditional and wonderfully counter-cultural message past the various studio gatekeepers.
Here is why I will be picking up a copy for my family when it is released on video this week….